Mothers, Peers and Gender Identity∗

We study the formation of gender identity by looking at the labor-market decisions of young women. Specifically, we investigate whether and how a woman’s work behavior depends on the work behavior of her mother and that of her friends’ mothers. Using a representative sample of U.S. teenagers and their schoolmates followed over time, we find that both intergenerational channels positively affect a woman’s work hours in adulthood. The peers’ mother role model effect operates independently from the presence of peers’ influence. Our evidence is consistent with the presence of behavioral effects of social norms about mothers.